Catheters for draining the urinary bladder are increasingly used for intermittent catheterization. Intermittent catheters are often used by people who suffer from urinary incontinence or by people who have a diminished or no control over voluntary urination, such as para- or tetraplegics and have to use catheters for voiding the urinary bladder.
A number of different variations of intermittent catheter assemblies exist, where the catheter types are typically either hydrogel lubricated catheters or catheters that are provided with a friction reducing hydrophilic surface coating. The choice of catheter assemblies varies from user to user, where some prefer to use a simple catheter assembly, where the catheter is provided in a package and ready to use or only needs activation or lubrication prior to use. Others prefer to use a catheter assembly, where the catheter is provided with a urine bag, so the user does not need access to facilities to dispose of the urine during catheterization but may collect the urine inside the urine bag and dispose of the used assembly subsequently.